Advice/Help Why are underage roleplayers so scare?

[CookieGalaxy]

I've been having a really rough time with finding a roleplay. It's like every single time I find a good one, they're over 18. Normally, I would complain about this over on Amino but I can't do that anymore. I would have told my problem to a lady named Hyde. But I lost the website and I can't contact her for advice. I've gotten advice before. Everyone has their own life and adults want "spicy" roleplays. I'm going to need a answer to this question. Why are roleplayers mostly over 18 and underage roleplayers very impossible to find?

 

[Cealen]

i may not be able to answer your question on why there isn’t as many underage role players, because i don’t think i can force into the existence more younger role players :-P. i do think this being a forum and forums being not one where younger players gather on (social media is something much more familiar to younger people, i have seen, even describing forums to my 17 y/o sister made her give me strange looks).

also the fact that rps are a bit commitment to a lot of people. adults like rping because it’s fun and something to write, and they, on average i’ve seen at least, are just more committed to sticking around and actually seeing the rp to fruition, as they’re taking time out of their busy lives to contribute to this rp. minors, including even me when i was a young roleplayer, just don’t have that commitment, it seems like. waiting weeks on end to get one single response is more “longer feeling” for a minor who only has school compared to an adult who has much more obligations. of course, not acussing you of anything, speaking from my own experiences!

but, for why people don’t want to rp with younger players, i’ll give you some reasons, if you’re curious about that too :

1. it’s uncomfortable for an adult to talk to a minor sometimes, even if nothing nsfw is going on, like how rpnation does not permit nsfw/smut. this is something I feel too, being 20- talking to anyone really younger than my little sister and i start feeling like “why am i talking to this person? i feel like i’m creeping on them.” obviously, adults and minors can have healthy relationships, but that uncomfortable feeling really is hard to manage when you’re online. i definitely get that feeling.

2. again, not talking about you in particular, but experience is a big thing. younger role players haven’t been on earth for as long as adults, so hence, less experience in writing. people want experienced people most of the time. of course, there’s inexperienced adults too, but with minors it’s more or so a more prevalent issue.

3. content. even though there’s no nsfw on this site, people very much like dark things, and want a “mature” partner. obviously, age does not equal maturity, but i definitely think i am a more mature person than who i was when i was 16.

also, personal experiences can be a big issue. when i was a young roleplayer, adults who DIDN'T care about my age made me do things i definitely should have not been writing about. because of that, i never want to be that adult to a minor, not to have someone else have to write about those things when you’re wayyy to young to. so, keep in mind that age restrictions on rps may be keeping you away from some stuff that you shouldn’t be engaging with in rp. i’m talking mainly erp content, which rpnation forbids, but still, some limits are there for a reason!

hope i answered your question and made some sense.

 

[nerdy tangents]

So I’m not sure what you mean by “spicy” but platonic roleplays are available. I’m an adult and I pretty much exclusively do platonic roleplays. I also regularly search the platonic filter to find like-minded role players.

A fair number of them are totally fine roleplaying with minors. (At least as far as platonic content is concerned).

Heck if it comes down to it I am totally fine playing with minors. I know I had people mentoring me when I started out so I like to pay it forward when I get the time.

 

[CookieGalaxy]

i may not be able to answer your question on why there isn’t as many underage role players, because i don’t think i can force into the existence more younger role players :-P. i do think this being a forum and forums being not one where younger players gather on (social media is something much more familiar to younger people, i have seen, even describing forums to my 17 y/o sister made her give me strange looks).

also the fact that rps are a bit commitment to a lot of people. adults like rping because it’s fun and something to write, and they, on average i’ve seen at least, are just more committed to sticking around and actually seeing the rp to fruition, as they’re taking time out of their busy lives to contribute to this rp. minors, including even me when i was a young roleplayer, just don’t have that commitment, it seems like. waiting weeks on end to get one single response is more “longer feeling” for a minor who only has school compared to an adult who has much more obligations. of course, not acussing you of anything, speaking from my own experiences!

but, for why people don’t want to rp with younger players, i’ll give you some reasons, if you’re curious about that too :

1. it’s uncomfortable for an adult to talk to a minor sometimes, even if nothing nsfw is going on, like how rpnation does not permit nsfw/smut. this is something I feel too, being 20- talking to anyone really younger than my little sister and i start feeling like “why am i talking to this person? i feel like i’m creeping on them.” obviously, adults and minors can have healthy relationships, but that uncomfortable feeling really is hard to manage when you’re online. i definitely get that feeling.

2. again, not talking about you in particular, but experience is a big thing. younger role players haven’t been on earth for as long as adults, so hence, less experience in writing. people want experienced people most of the time. of course, there’s inexperienced adults too, but with minors it’s more or so a more prevalent issue.

3. content. even though there’s no nsfw on this site, people very much like dark things, and want a “mature” partner. obviously, age does not equal maturity, but i definitely think i am a more mature person than who i was when i was 16.

also, personal experiences can be a big issue. when i was a young roleplayer, adults who DIDN'T care about my age made me do things i definitely should have not been writing about. because of that, i never want to be that adult to a minor, not to have someone else have to write about those things when you’re wayyy to young to. so, keep in mind that age restrictions on rps may be keeping you away from some stuff that you shouldn’t be engaging with in rp. i’m talking mainly erp content, which rpnation forbids, but still, some limits are there for a reason!

hope i answered your question and made some sense.

Exactly what everyone on Amino said. I used to come here because I wanted roleplay and when I wasn't getting anywhere, I consulted Hyde and told me to return to Amino because it was more based on younger audiences.

So I’m not sure what you mean by “spicy” but platonic roleplays are available. I’m an adult and I pretty much exclusively do platonic roleplays. I also regularly search the platonic filter to find like-minded role players.

A fair number of them are totally fine roleplaying with minors. (At least as far as platonic content is concerned).

Heck if it comes down to it I am totally fine playing with minors. I know I had people mentoring me when I started out so I like to pay it forward when I get the time.

I'm referring to NSFW roleplays with all the ******. You get it.

 

[nerdy tangents]

CookieGalaxy erotic content is banned on this site. So if anyone attempts to ask you for it you can use the anonymous report feature.

 

[Jannah]

CookieGalaxy erotic content is banned on this site. So if anyone attempts to ask you for it you can use the anonymous report feature.

I'm definitely glad for that myself. I'm on another site where erotic content is not banned and there's one member whose plots almost always consist of either gay smut or gay incestrous smut.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I'm definitely glad for that myself. I'm on another site where erotic content is not banned and there's one member whose plots almost always consist of either gay smut or gay incestrous smut.

See if it’s allowed I tend to take a “you do you” vibe. I mean it’s not for me to judge people for writing porn.

That is as long as you aren’t trying to coerce people who aren’t into it. Like on my previous site there was this one “girl” who constantly tried to insert her lesbian humiliation kink into unrelated plots and would get really pissy when she was told no.

So for me I don’t mind that smut roleplays exist as long as it’s consensual. They just aren’t my cup of tea and I am grateful to not have to scroll through porn requests when trying to look for roleplays

 

[Jannah]

See if it’s allowed I tend to take a “you do you” vibe. I mean it’s not for me to judge people for writing porn.

That is as long as you aren’t trying to coerce people who aren’t into it. Like on my previous site there was this one “girl” who constantly tried to insert her lesbian humiliation kink into unrelated plots and would get really pissy when she was told no.

So for me I don’t mind that smut roleplays exist as long as it’s consensual. They just aren’t my cup of tea and I am grateful to not have to scroll through porn requests when trying to look for roleplays

I take issue with it in this case since it's a person who does often want to write with me. Because of this person I've been turned off MxM pairings completely.

 

[LilBeano]

I'm definitely glad for that myself. I'm on another site where erotic content is not banned and there's one member whose plots almost always consist of either gay smut or gay incestrous smut.

And what is this site? I'm honestly curious.

 

[Onmyoji]

And what is this site? I'm honestly curious.

Sharing links to sites where NSFW content is allowed would be against the rules here as well.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I take issue with it in this case since it's a person who does often want to write with me. Because of this person I've been turned off MxM pairings completely.

Fair enough. I thought you were talking about them just making interest checks for the same tropes. I was like “I mean they can write whatever, as long as the site allows it.”

But yeah I hate it when people deliberately go against your boundaries or try to shoehorn their smut/kink into your ideas.

I don’t think I ever got the super weird m/m people but I got a few f/f or m/f people that were off the chart YIKES.

 

[Fable]

Onto the topic of the question of the OP:

It's actually sort of internet safety 101 regarding minors. Adults stick with adults because as adults we understand the should be a healthy and respectful boundary when we engage with minors. Chatting and being friendly is one thing, writing romantic situations (even just SFW types) is way inappropriate to the average, respectable adult. Adults in the age to have their own children are even more aware of this because they don't want their own children engaging in certain things with adults online.

My advice is to make your own partner search with what you are looking for and be patient as there are hundreds of new threads posted each day (not to mention the bumps of older threads). It can take some time to find a partner to RP with.

It's not that RpNation doesn't have minors (otherwise we wouldn't have a no erp rule, lol) it's just that they are more of a minority in the large population of the site.

 

[CookieGalaxy]

Onto the topic of the question of the OP:

It's actually sort of internet safety 101 regarding minors. Adults stick with adults because as adults we understand the should be a healthy and respectful boundary when we engage with minors. Chatting and being friendly is one thing, writing romantic situations (even just SFW types) is way inappropriate to the average, respectable adult. Adults in the age to have their own children are even more aware of this because they don't want their own children engaging in certain things with adults online.

My advice is to make your own partner search with what you are looking for and be patient as there are hundreds of new threads posted each day (not to mention the bumps of older threads). It can take some time to find a partner to RP with.

It's not that RpNation doesn't have minors (otherwise we wouldn't have a no erp rule, lol) it's just that they are more of a minority in the large population of the site.

Okay you actually make a whole lot of sense better than the people on Amino. And that's saying something. But that's not always easy for me. I have serve trust issues from those nasty people that I've fallen into their trap at 13 and suffered an ashamed addition for three years that I hate. And I have a broken life that needs to be fixed. It's a very long story.

 

[nerdy tangents]

See Fable I have always found the idea that it’s inappropriate for adults to talk to kids deeply creepy. As an adult myself it makes me more uncomfortable to talk to another adult who is terrified of impropriety than it does to talk to a minor.

I think it’s because as a kid I always gravitated towards hanging out with adults. I also started out role playing with adult mentors explaining things to me.

So while I understand drawing the line at romance, politics, “adult themes”, etc. I don’t think that is inherently weird for an adult to just talk to a kid.

Maybe it’s a different generation thing. It’s been over a decade since I was in my teens so maybe it’s just different now.

 

[CookieGalaxy]

See Fable I have always found the idea that it’s inappropriate for adults to talk to kids deeply creepy. As an adult myself it makes me more uncomfortable to talk to another adult who is terrified of impropriety than it does to talk to a minor.

I think it’s because as a kid I always gravitated towards hanging out with adults. I also started out role playing with adult mentors explaining things to me.

So while I understand drawing the line at romance, politics, “adult themes”, etc. I don’t think that is inherently weird for an adult to just talk to a kid.

Maybe it’s a different generation thing. It’s been over a decade since I was in my teens so maybe it’s just different now.

That makes sense. I wished my parents would have sat me down and told me about those kinds of people. If only I haven't say Raj and Stewart making those online dating profiles that night on The Big Bang Theory.

 

[Fable]

See Fable I have always found the idea that it’s inappropriate for adults to talk to kids deeply creepy. As an adult myself it makes me more uncomfortable to talk to another adult who is terrified of impropriety than it does to talk to a minor.

I think it’s because as a kid I always gravitated towards hanging out with adults. I also started out role playing with adult mentors explaining things to me.

So while I understand drawing the line at romance, politics, “adult themes”, etc. I don’t think that is inherently weird for an adult to just talk to a kid.

Maybe it’s a different generation thing. It’s been over a decade since I was in my teens so maybe it’s just different now.

Ah I didn't say that chatting between adults and minor is bad. I said it was "one thing" compared to the other things I listed, as in chatting with a kid is one thing and doing inappropriate things is another.

It honestly just depends on the context of the chat really. If a kid came up to me and wanted to talk about candy? Heck yeah kid, candy is great! Having a kid ask me about my boobs? (Yes, this has happened. I've also had a kid pull his pants down in front of me which I informed his parents about.) I just tell them to talk to their parents. These were younger kids, not even 10 so I chalk it up to innocent ignorance. But there is no way in hell I would take those types of moments and turn them into a conversation with a kid.

I'll fangirl with whoever over a shared interest. DnD? I'll go on for days about pretty dice sets I want.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Fable I see sorry about that. I have had people in the past who were just like fully I do not converse with people who are more then five years younger than me ever.

And it always made me want to lie and say I was younger than I was. Just because that seems like a lot of baggage I don’t want to have to carry.

But yeah I mostly talk Kiki’s Delivery Service or Harry Potter (or the original equivalents) so outside of maybe trying to clean up my potty mouth a bit I don’t much mind talking to kids.

Now if the KID say “Hey I feel weird talking to you I hope that’s okay.” I’m fine backing out.

But I guess I just feel a little bad that so many kids get told no. It’s like the adult equivalent of trying to find a new job but they won’t take anyone without experience.

Like well I would love to have experience but NO ONE will hire me! (lol sorry some unemployment flashbacks)

 

[Jannah]

Fair enough. I thought you were talking about them just making interest checks for the same tropes. I was like “I mean they can write whatever, as long as the site allows it.”

But yeah I hate it when people deliberately go against your boundaries or try to shoehorn their smut/kink into your ideas.

I don’t think I ever got the super weird m/m people but I got a few f/f or m/f people that were off the chart YIKES.

Almost all of the weirdos I have encountered while RPing have been the types into MxM pairings. It's unfortunate, really.

 

[Murdergurl]

CookieGalaxy
This might have already been touched on, but RPN is not an erotic RP site. So you shouldn't have anyone propositioning "spicy" roleplays. All of us "adults" have to keep any interactions like that as a fade-to-black at the most. And as a minor, you shouldn't be on sites that engage in ERP (or on the specific parts of a site that allow it). To generalize that all adults are looking for said "spicy" roleplays kind of makes me wonder exactly where it is that you've been searching. Because if everyone there is doing so, I don't think you should be there in the first place.

If I can recommend something; have you tried looking into group RP? The dynamic isn't focused on 1x1 pairings, and you are less likely to get that awkwardness from the other players interacting with someone significantly younger than them. And you definitely won't get a creeper coming out in the IC or OOC threads with something erotic. If they do, they will be seen by the rest of the group, and almost assuredly get banned. The dynamic between you and the other players is not going to be set up so exclusively as 1x1 RP, so you can feasibly bounce around in the narrative as a story unfolds and find a spot for yourself between all the players.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Murdergurl oh man that actually took me back to my group days. Where a literal impromptu orgy took place in one. It was on my previous site and we all kinda laughed it off because the writers were being way over the top.

But when you said people won’t spring erotic content on you in groups I legitimately chuckled. As my mind was like “Unless your a shark and zebra shifter starting a zoo wide orgy. Ah man that was a weird one.”

I do agree with the main point though, groups in general are less relationship driven.

That said they do require more organization (if your running them) and a consistent schedule.

So if you don’t have a lot of consistent free time than platonic 1x1s are good as well.

Especially given OPs preferred setting, I think a platonic 1x1 is the way to go. As it fits the plots they pitched a little better.

 

[LilBeano]

Ouu, sowwy....

 

[nerdy tangents]

Also to expand on my above posts with groups you also have to take the setting and focus into account. As someone who focuses mostly on slice of life, schools, and fantasy (in any and all combinations) I know that groups can indeed have a relationship focus as well.

A good example is the “A group of friends ban together to save the world from magical evil” story.

That group of friends obviously all have relationships with each other and typically there is at least one unrequited crush on another playable character.

** Mind this is based off IRL experience as a teen girl and also consuming a lot of content aimed at teen girls in my youths. So I am willing to concede this might be a gender thing and teen boy led stories don’t have that issue. **

 

[CookieGalaxy]

CookieGalaxy
This might have already been touched on, but RPN is not an erotic RP site. So you shouldn't have anyone propositioning "spicy" roleplays. All of us "adults" have to keep any interactions like that as a fade-to-black at the most. And as a minor, you shouldn't be on sites that engage in ERP (or on the specific parts of a site that allow it). To generalize that all adults are looking for said "spicy" roleplays kind of makes me wonder exactly where it is that you've been searching. Because if everyone there is doing so, I don't think you should be there in the first place.

If I can recommend something; have you tried looking into group RP? The dynamic isn't focused on 1x1 pairings, and you are less likely to get that awkwardness from the other players interacting with someone significantly younger than them. And you definitely won't get a creeper coming out in the IC or OOC threads with something erotic. If they do, they will be seen by the rest of the group, and almost assuredly get banned. The dynamic between you and the other players is not going to be set up so exclusively as 1x1 RP, so you can feasibly bounce around in the narrative as a story unfolds and find a spot for yourself between all the players.

I have tried to avoid erp. Expect I fell into their trap when I was starting to lose friends six years ago. I want to throw most of my toxic classmates into the lava for their dirty influences.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I think it is just a learning experience. As you get older/more experiences you learn how to spot red flags.

There are no erp on this site period. Of the toxic people I have met they tend to be trolls trying to get a rise out of people OR bigots.

And we are talking maybe four people in the four years I have been on this site.

 

[Murdergurl]

nerdy tangents group RP are few and far between when they try and focus on relationships. I don't really try and join in on them. But I read through recruitment threads when I'm bored. When the dynamic exists, it's more like optional than the main point. Hence, saving the world from evil is the driving narrative. Developing relationships is highlights and flavor. Not all the players will want to achieve this, but some will. It's like any given movie of the same derivative. There is usually a love interest for the protagonist that develops as the plot unfolds around a greater, epic story.

CookieGalaxy Well, you really shouldn't have any issues with that sort of thing on this site. I haven't been on RPN as long as a lot of the other commenters to your topic. But I have been around the block in terms of online roleplay (started RPing in the mid 90s). I can attest to you that RPN is actually pretty chill compared to a lot of other sites. Not a lot of toxic stuff going on besides some ruffled feathers in the general discussion area. I've never run into anyone creepy and lecherous here. I think the site admin have done a pretty good job of culling that element from the herd. So relax. Have fun. Make a recruitment thread in the forum of your preference and be sure to outline exactly what you're looking for as well as what you want to avoid. You should be fine. There are a few other minors I've seen here and there. And that's just what I've observed without actually looking for them. :-)